Australian Employment Rose 22,600 in April; Est. 20,000 Gain

Australia's central bank is looking for a tightening labor market to drive wages higher and spur inflation before it considers raising interest rates. The statistics bureau released the data in Sydney on Thursday.

Aussie dollar little changed at 75.16 U.S. cents at 11:33 a.m. in Sydney from 75.19 pre-data

Unemployment has been range-bound at 5.5 percent for the past year, with massive job gains in late 2017 followed by a slowdown in the first quarter. The central bank says the jobless rate is the key metric in the economy at present -- policy makers expect that as it falls toward 5 percent, wage growth should pick up and drive inflation higher. While that would clear the path for the first interest-rate increase since 2010, traders see little chance of a tightening before mid-next year.